Yong-Geun Oh (; born 1961) is a South Korean mathematician and distinguished professor at the

Pohang University of Science and Technology Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH, ) is a private research university in Pohang, South Korea. History Pohang University of Science and Technology was established on December 3, 1986, by POSCO, a South Korean steel company, ...

and founding director of the IBS Center for Geometry and Physics located on that campus. His fields of study have been on

symplectic topology Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form. Symplectic geometry has its origins in the ...

Floer homology In mathematics, Floer homology is a tool for studying symplectic geometry and low-dimensional topology. Floer homology is an invariant that arises as an infinite-dimensional analogue of finite-dimensional Morse homology. Andreas Floer intro ...

Hamiltonian mechanics In physics, Hamiltonian mechanics is a reformulation of Lagrangian mechanics that emerged in 1833. Introduced by Sir William Rowan Hamilton, Hamiltonian mechanics replaces (generalized) velocities \dot q^i used in Lagrangian mechanics with (gener ...

, and

mirror symmetry In mathematics, reflection symmetry, line symmetry, mirror symmetry, or mirror-image symmetry is symmetry with respect to a Reflection (mathematics), reflection. That is, a figure which does not change upon undergoing a reflection has reflecti ...

He was in the inaugural class of fellows of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

and has been a member of Institute for Advanced Study, Korean Mathematical Society, and

National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea The National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea (), is the senior national organization of distinguished South Korean scientists and scholars. It was founded to promote learning and research in all areas of sciences by conferring membe ...

and is on the editorial boards of ''Journal of Gokova Geometry and Topology'' and ''Journal of Mathematics of Kyoto University''.

Education

Oh went to

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

and received a B.A in mathematics in 1983. He then went to U.C. Berkeley, where he majored in mathematics and his Ph.D. was conferred in 1988. His dissertation research was supervised by Professor

Alan Weinstein Alan David Weinstein (born 17 June 1943) is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley, working in the field of differential geometry, and especially in Poisson manifold, Poisson geometry. Early life and education ...

. With the completion of his PhD, he then focused on developing and enhancing the

theory in

symplectic geometry Symplectic geometry is a branch of differential geometry and differential topology that studies symplectic manifolds; that is, differentiable manifolds equipped with a closed, nondegenerate 2-form. Symplectic geometry has its origins in the ...

and its application within that field.

Career

His career started during his Ph.D. program, where he worked as a teaching assistant and then research assistant in the Department of Math at U.C. Berkeley. After graduation, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at the

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute (SLMath), formerly the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), is an independent nonprofit mathematical research institution on the University of California campus in Berkeley, Califor ...

, located in Berkeley. He then moved to New York to work as a Courant Instructor at the

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences The Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences (commonly known as Courant or CIMS) is the mathematics research school of New York University (NYU). Founded in 1935, it is named after Richard Courant, one of the founders of the Courant Institute ...

for a year. Going to the Department of Mathematics in the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

, he started as an assistant professor in 1991, associate professor in 1997, and full professor in 2001. During his sabbatical, he was a visiting professor at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

for the academic year 2004–2005. While teaching at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he also was a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry located in Princeton, New Jersey. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholars, including Albert Ein ...

in Princeton, a research member at the

Isaac Newton Institute The Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences is an international research institute for mathematics and its applications at the University of Cambridge. It is named after one of the university's most illustrious figures, the mathematician ...

in the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, visiting professor at the

Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences The is a research institute attached to Kyoto University, hosting researchers in the mathematical sciences from all over Japan. RIMS was founded in April 1963. List of directors * Masuo Fukuhara (1963.5.1 – 1969.3.31) * Kōsaku Yosida (1969 ...

in Kyoto University, and a professor at the

Korea Institute for Advanced Study Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Demo ...

. He became a distinguished professor at the Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) in 2010 and the founding director of the

Institute for Basic Science The Institute for Basic Science (IBS; ) is a Korean government-funded research institute that conducts basic science research and relevant pure basic research. Comprising approximately 30 research centers with more than 60 research groups ac ...

Center for Geometry and Physics in 2012, which is located on the POSTECH campus.

Memberships

* 2014: Member of

Korean Academy of Science and Technology The Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) is South Korea's highest academy of science and serves as an integrated think-tank for the country's science and technology. It contributes to national development by promoting science and tech ...

* 2013: Inaugural Class of Fellows,

* 1991–1992: Institute for Advanced Study * Korean Mathematical Society *

Editorial boards

* 2007–current: ''Journal of Gokova Geometry and Topology'' * 2009–current: ''Journal of Mathematics of Kyoto University''

Awards

* 2023:

Asian Scientist 100 The Asian Scientist 100 is an annually published list of 100 prize-winning Asian researchers, academicians, innovators and business leaders from across the Asia-Pacific region and a range of scientific disciplines. Recipients "must have received ...

, ''

Asian Scientist ''Asian Scientist'' is an English language science and technology magazine published in Singapore. History and profile ''Asian Scientist'' was launched as a blog in March 2011 by Juliana Chan. The blog's popularity eventually led to a partnersh ...

'' * 2022:

Ho-Am Prize in Science The Ho-Am Prize in Science was established in 1990 by Kun-Hee Lee, the Chairman of Samsung, to honour the late Chairman, Lee Byung-chul, the founder of the company. The Ho-Am Prize in Science (previously the Ho-Am Prize in Science & Technology) ...

* 2019: Korea Science Award * 2012:

Kyung-Ahm Prize The Kyung-Ahm Prize () is a series of awards presented annually from the Kyung-Ahm Education & Cultural Foundation. Founded in 2005 with a 100 billion KRW endowment by Geum-Jo Song, the award originally had four categories and in addition to the ...

* 2002: Vilas Associate Award,

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

* 2001: Young Scientist Award,

* 1988: Bernard Friedman memorial prize in Applied Mathematics

Selected publications

* * *

References

External links

Center for Geometry and Physics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh, Yong-Geun Institute for Advanced Study people Fellows of the American Mathematical Society Academic staff of Pohang University of Science and Technology Seoul National University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century South Korean mathematicians Institute for Basic Science 1961 births Living people Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in Science 20th-century South Korean mathematicians South Korean scientists